Transportinfo.org.uk - today's transport news in the uk, hand picked for you each morning

Saturday, 01 February 2014

BBC News

• Canada 'spied on airport travellers'Canada's spy agency collected data from travellers using an airport's wi-fi system, CBC reports, quoting documents leaked by Edward Snowden.
• Mayor offers RMT Tube strike talksLondon Mayor Boris Johnson offers to enter talks with the RMT union if it calls off the planned Tube strikes.

The Telegraph

• Extend HS2 to Liverpool, campaigners sayCampaigners have called for the high speed rail line to be extended to Liverpool to ensure the city is not left behind in what they claim would add financial benefits to the HS2 project    

Mail Online

• High life of Bob Crow, the lobster-red baronThe general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers enjoyed unlimited champagne, sushi and caviar as he island-hopped from Barbados to Brazil.

Belfast Telegraph

• 1m bus trips a week in Northern IrelandMore than a million bus journeys were made by passengers each week in Northern Ireland between July and September 2013.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Bradford Council refuses to back HS2 scheme Bradford Council is refusing to back the controversial HS2 high speed rail scheme.

Bristol Live

• The Bristol Post commented Cyclists' guardian angel? Bristol bus drivers to test cyclist...IT is a major cycling commuter route marred by safety concerns. Over two and a half thousand cyclists use Gloucester Road every day. But campaigners say many more are put off by the traffic – especially buses and lorries.But a new technology which warns drivers of heavy good vehicles of approaching cyclists could ease concerns.Warning system Cycle Eye, developed by Bristol company Fusion Processing, looks set to be trialled on bus services up and down Gloucester Road as early as March.The...

Derby Telegraph

• Derbyshire pupils are on track to do battle at rail industry event HUNDREDS of pupils from schools across Derbyshire are preparing to take part in a skills challenge designed to inspire interest in a rail industry career.
• Derby Telegraph published OPINION: 'Derby cyclists need to know they are not above the law'CAN we please stop all the correspondence about cycling on the pavement?Letters are published both for and against this activity, but would the Telegraph publish letters in favour of breaking any other law? Cycling on the pavement is an offence under Section 72 of the Highways Act 1835, as amended by section 85 (1) of the Local Government Act 1888. This is still in place for the safety of pedestrians.Even careful cycling on the pavement is against the law. The enforcement of offences is a ...

Lincolnshire Echo

• £2.1m rail plan worth every penny, say MPs Rail improvements between Lincoln and Nottingham might cost the Government £2.1m, but a group of local MPs have said it's more than worth the price tag. In a debate in Parliament this week, Newark MP Patrick Mercer pointed out the journey between the two cities now takes longer than it did 100 years ago – and there are less trains on the line than in 2000.

London Evening Standard

• TfL boss Sir Peter Hendy admits Tube deal firm ‘missed all its milestones’London's transport chief has admitted that the collapse of Bombardier’s £350 million Tube signalling contract is a “serious embarrassment” for the firm — just days before it learns whether the Mayor will award it the £1 billion deal to build Crossrail trains.
• EXCLUSIVE: Boris Johnson offers face-to-face talks with Bob Crow over 'pointless' Tube strikeBoris Johnson this afternoon offered face-to-face talks with RMT union leader Bob Crow - but only if he first calls off next week’s Tube strike.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Nottingham Post published HS2 consultations are finally overArticle

Sheffield Star

• VIDEO: New electric Class 700 train unveiledWatch the interview with Rail Minister Stephen Hammond and First Capital Connect’s David Statham at the unveiling of the electric Class 700 which is being built for the Thameslink route through London, with the first new trains due to begin operating in 2016.

Doncaster Free Press

• Doncaster’s park and ride bus service set to be axedThe future of Doncaster’s park and ride services have been thrown into doubt because of funding cutbacks.    

Other Regional Press

• Villagers want train station in KincardineVILLAGERS in Kincardine want a train station to be introduced to the village.
• Brand new bus fleet will reflect Hemel Hempstead thanks to inventive votersArriva Buses launched the competition to name seven new vehicles late last year. The company’s Linsey Frostick said: “We were delighted by the response we had, with so many people wanting to immortalise the names of local heroes, sights and features of the town.”
• Rail passengers warned of crackdown on fare dodgers after hundreds fail to buy a ticket 422 occasions where passengers were caught travelling on Northern Rail services without a valid ticket across the North-east last year
• Parts of Huddersfield town centre could be closed to traffic in Kirklees Council plans Public transport would still have access, with CCTV monitored bus gates installed

Bus and Coach.com

• First broadens fares consultationFirst is launching six weeks of consultation on fares on its bus services in the West of England.
• Lateness tolerated, complaints ignoredBus passengers are tolerant of some late running of services but feel that their complaints will be ignored when there is a problem, according to the latest research by Passenger Focus.
• Photoflash cleared in crash inquiryCoach operator Photoflash of Carluke has been cleared of responsibility for the death of a teenage girl travelling in one of its vehicles which left the A73 road in bad weather in March 2010.
• OFT approves Finglands sale to FirstThe OFT has cleared the takeover of Finglands Coachways by First Manchester.
• First insurance fraud driver jailedA First bus driver who took part in a cash-for-crash insurance fraud in Sheffield, Adam Herbert (26), has been jailed for 20 months by Sheffield Crown Court.
• Axe to fall on Routemaster routeOne of the two London routes operated by old-style Routemasters is to cease in July.
• McGill’s eyes Malta contractMcGill’s of Greenock is interested in taking over the operation of bus services in Malta following the withdrawal of Arriva from the island’s operations at the end of last year.
• North Yorks slashes bus supportNorth Yorkshire council is going ahead with a £2million reduction in its annual support for bus services.
• Courtney Buses queries TUPE injury rulesThe owner of Berkshire-based Courtney Buses is calling for a change to employment legislation after his company was presented with an industrial injury claim on behalf an employee who worked for another company at the time of his injury, but which could potentially be transferred to Courtney Buses under TUPE regulations.
• Stagecoach takes on First in EdinburghStagecoach is to compete with First in Edinburgh with the launch on 3 March of a service between Queensferry and the Scottish capital.

Global Rail News

• RFF and SNCF to spend €1bn upgrading Ile-de-France networkRFF and SNCF have announced a major programme of maintenance and renewals which will see €1 billion spent in 2014 to improve rail infrastructure in and around the French capital.[...]
• An exciting new AventraBombardier’s Litchurch Lane factory was formerly the Derby Carriage and Wagon Works. Built in 1876 by the Midland Railway, the long workshops are ideal for building carriages on a production line and, as today’s multiple unit trains are essentially a mixture of powered and unpowered carriages, that method continues. Today, up to four production lines […]
• Public supports Tube plansLondoners support plans to close ticket offices and introduce 24-hour services on the Underground, a new poll has shown. Out of the 1,012 people approached, 82 per cent supported ticket[...]
• Siemens and Russian Machines to partner on Moscow Metro bidSiemens and Russian Machines Corporation have established a new joint venture in a bid to compete for a contract to build Moscow’s new fleet of metro trains. Moscow Metro has[...]

Aviation Industry

• European Parliament Transport Committee throws its weight behind SES2+The European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN) in a vote on Thursday endorsed the European Commission’s Single European Sky (SES) 2+ package aimed at speeding up implementation of the SES. read more
• BA bolsters capacity from London City to ScotlandFlights will be added to Edinburgh from summer 2014

Green Miscellany

• The Nissan car engine you can carry under your armA new petrol engine from Nissan is so small it could be carried on board a passenger plane as hand luggage and yet weighs only 40 kg. At 1.5 litres, the capacity of the DIG-T R is no larger than the engine in a Nissan Micra, but whereas the little city car produces around 65hp, the new power plant produces…
• A free taxi to the shops, courtesy of GoogleNew technology from Google will allow restaurants, shopping malls and garages to offer free taxi rides to their customers. A patent awarded to the internet giant reveals how the company plans to use advertising revenue to fund free local travel – possibly using its own fleet of self-driving taxis . Breakdown Recovery from less than £30 Get your quote Your…

Other News Sources

• Skyguide plans the first virtual air traffic control centreThe increase in efficiency of European air navigation services should be based so far, among other things, on the reduction in the number of air traffic control centres in Europe (there are...